1. Field of the Invention
The invention pertains to protective garments, and, more specifically to a lightweight, flameproof, heat resistant, one-piece escape suit.
History abounds with horrific stories of fires where numerous people perish when they are trapped in a burning building. In recent years, the proliferation of skyscrapers and other high rise structures has exacerbated this situation, and it is now estimated that 200 million people live and/or work in more than 80,000 skyscrapers worldwide. While modern buildings are substantially fireproof, many people still succumb to smoke, heat or other toxic fumes resulting from the burning of furniture or other building contents before they can be rescued. This typically happens when people cannot escape from a building because their escape path may take them through a burning portion of the structure.
While fire fighters have an incredible history of performing selfless, heroic acts to rescue occupants from within burning structures, the extraordinary number of people often present in a high rise structure makes the rescue task virtually impossible. What is needed, therefore, is an effective, inexpensive protective garment that may be easily donned, and that will protect a person from smoke and fire during his or her passage out of a burning building. Such a garment should protect its wearer from radiant heat, smoke or other toxic fumes as well as prevent severe burns to their body when passage through a region of a burning building is necessary to escape the structure.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
High rise evacuation systems exist wherein a wall-mounted bracket and pulley system is used in conjunction with a fireproof cable and controlled descent device to lower people from an upper building floor to the ground. These devices are typically used in conjunction with an “evac suit” that is essentially a glorified metalized fabric bag into which one or more people secure themselves for the descent. Such systems suffer from the fact that they must be permanently installed and become part of the building structure. In addition, such systems are only effective in high rise spaces having access to the outside, leaving occupants of interior spaces stranded. Such systems also have a relatively high initial cost, and routine maintenance becomes expensive. High Rise Escape Systems of Sanford, Fla. USA markets an exemplary escape system.
Fireproof protective garments and shelters are also known in the prior art. However, such garments are typically worn only by firefighters or other professionals, as they may be expensive, bulky, heavy, and cumbersome, require training in their use, or require ancillary support systems for their use. Such garments typically require several minutes and an assistant to don. Therefore, such garments are not suitable for use as escape garments that may be deployed in offices, hotel rooms, or other spaces in high rise structures for use by untrained civilians.
One such garment is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,761,515 for PROCESS AND APPARATUS FOR FIRE PROTECTION, issued Sep. 4, 1956 to Theophilus A. Field, Jr. et al. FIELD, JR. et al. provide an outer garment for placement over conventional inner garments. A space formed between the inner and outer garments is filled with foam that insulates the wearer from the heat of a fire. The foam is usually replenished from an external source throughout the use of the garment.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,860,382 for PROTECTIVE GARMENT, issued Aug. 29, 1989 to Edgar R. Markwell, teaches a hazmat garment adapted to protect a wearer from noxious chemicals and vapors, but having neither fire-resistant nor flameproof qualities.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,998,296 for HYPOTHERMIA PROTECTION SUIT COLLAPSIBLE INTO COMPACT PACKAGE FOR STORAGE, issued Mar. 12, 1991 to Rebecca M. Stames, teaches a thin, compressible garment having inner and outer layers surrounding an open cell foam central layer. The STAMES garment is a bag having a closable bottom and closable sleeves for enclosing a wearer. The STAMES garment is useful, for example, for protecting a motorist stranded during a blizzard from hypothermia, but is not suitable for use as a fire escape garment.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,421,326 for HEAT RESISTANT SUIT WITH ACTIVE COOLING SYSTEM, issued Jun. 6, 1995 to R. Dewon Rankin et al., shows a suit having means for circulating cooling air within a closed inner region thereof.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,774,902 for PROTECTION SUIT, issued Jul. 7, 1998 to Harmut Gehse, discloses a protective suit suitable for pilots or drivers. An outer protective layer encloses a fluid layer that is controlled by external apparatus.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,794,262 for FIRE-PROOF PROTECTIVE WEARING OUTFITS WITH DIFFERENTIATED PERSPIRABILITY, issued Aug. 18, 1998 to Giuseppe Capello, provides an air-permeable safety suit for use in industrial activities, fighting forest fires, etc.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,829,840 for SAFETY SEAT, issued Nov. 3, 1998 to Patrick Goeckel, discloses a passenger seat having a storage compartment for storing a safety suit.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,860,162 for INFLATABLE FIREPROOF AVIATION BODY SUIT, issued Jan. 19, 1999 to Roy M. Love, provides a flexible, inflatable suit.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,510,560 for ROLLER-SUIT AND APPAREL, issued Jan. 28, 2003 to Adam Ugolnik, discloses a protective suit having rollers disposed on the external surface thereof, allowing a wearer to roll along a surface such as a floor.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,128,207 for EMERGENCY FIRE SHELTER STORAGE SYSTEM, issued Oct. 31, 2006 to Leslie Leah Anderson et al., provides a compact fire shelter stored in a pouch for emergency withdrawal and use.
None of these prior art systems or patents, taken singly or in combination, is seen to anticipate or suggest the one-piece, lightweight flameproof, heat resistant, one-piece escape suit of the present invention.